Chapter 9 - THE CONFESSION IN THE DARK
Mariana remained inside a surveillance van two blocks away.
Police had insisted on controlling the meeting after seeing the messages.
Detectives listened through microphones installed inside the abandoned building.
Andrew stepped closer to Brenda.
“You planted the necklace.”
Brenda laughed nervously.
“You told me to.”
“I told you to create pressure.”
“You told me exactly which necklace Margaret would believe Mariana stole.”
Andrew grabbed the folder.
Brenda refused to release it.
“You hit her because you wanted her scared enough to sign.”
Andrew’s face changed.
Mariana closed her eyes.
There it was.
The confession.
Not perfect.
But enough to destroy any claim that the accusation had been spontaneous.
Brenda continued.
“You said no one would believe her.”
“You said everyone thought she was poor.”
Andrew lowered his voice.
“You agreed.”
“Because you promised me the house.”
Andrew laughed bitterly.
“The house isn’t mine.”
Brenda stared.
“No.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Mariana owns the debt.”
Brenda slowly smiled.
“So you finally figured it out.”
Andrew’s expression hardened.
“You knew?”
“I knew enough.”
Brenda lifted the folder.
“And these papers prove your father stole millions from Rafael Escalante.”
Andrew lunged.
Police moved.
Within seconds, officers entered through two doors.
“Hands where we can see them.”
Andrew froze.
Brenda dropped the folder.
Mariana stepped out of the van only after officers secured the scene.
Andrew saw her through the open loading door.
“You set me up.”
Mariana approached slowly.
“No.”
“You came here voluntarily.”
“You spoke voluntarily.”
“And you confessed voluntarily.”
Andrew shook his head.
“You’re still my wife.”
“Not for long.”
A detective collected the folder.
Brenda was detained for questioning over the planted necklace and stolen documents.
Andrew was questioned regarding conspiracy, coercion, and assault.
He was not immediately charged with every allegation.
That furious uncertainty seemed to frighten him more than handcuffs would have.
At two in the morning, Mariana finally opened the recovered blue folder.
Most of the papers concerned Charles and Rafael.
But one document was recent.
Very recent.
Signed only eight months earlier.
It authorized a transfer of seventeen million dollars from Andrew’s company into a foreign acquisition fund.
The approval signature looked like Mariana’s.
She had never seen the document before.
Evelyn examined it.
“This signature is extremely good.”
Mariana stared at the page.
“Because someone practiced.”
Then she noticed the witness signature beneath hers.
The name belonged to a man she trusted.
Victor Shaw.
May you like
Her own deputy general counsel.
Someone inside her father’s company had been helping Andrew all along.
